A prayer to St. John the Baptist to grow in freedom and detachment

O glorious Saint John the Baptist,

greatest prophet among those born of woman (Luke 7, 28),

although thou wast sanctified in thy mother’s womb and didst lead a most innocent life,

nevertheless it was thy will to retire into the wilderness,

there to devote thyself to the practice of austerity and penance;

obtain for us of thy Lord the grace to be wholly detached,

at least in our hearts, from earthly goods,

and to practice Christian mortification with interior recollection and with the spirit of holy prayer.

Amen.